What will be the Song of the Summer? BTS, Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish and more battle it out
- Will Lorde’s ‘Solar Power’ be this year’s stand-out song, or will Australian rapper Masked Wolf get the honour?
- Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’ surged in popularity last summer because of a popular TikTok video, though it was released more than 40 years ago
Who has your vote for Song of the Summer?We don’t get to choose the Song of the Summer. It chooses us.
It’s the definitive song of the summer airwaves, the one that you hear blasting out of passing cars, and on street corners.
Last year, that definitive summer song wasn’t so definitive. It was either The Weeknd’s omnipresent earworm Blinding Lights, which continued to reign throughout the fall and winter months, and only recently started to recede; Taylor Swift’s Cardigan, an appropriately intimate anthem for a year when everything turned inward; or Fleetwood Mac’s 40-plus-year-old Dreams, which enjoyed an unexpected resurgence thanks to a popular TikTok video, which shows just how unpredictable the Song of the Summer race can truly be.
With that being said, here are this year’s most likely candidates.
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Lorde, Solar Power
It doesn’t matter what the calendar says; Lorde says it’s summer, so it’s summer. The New Zealand mood-pop sensation returned last week with this light, airy, upbeat celebration of the sun, which nods to A Tribe Called Quest (“can I kick it? Yeah, I can!” Lorde says, sounding, gulp, happy) and is genetically engineered by producer Jack Antonoff to get the summer party rolling. You have no choice but to submit.
BTS, Butter
The latest smash from the worldwide K-pop sensations is a smooth, fun, melty summer dance track that nuzzles right up to its fan base - it’s never a bad idea to shout out your fans, in this case the BTS Army, in song - and which happens to go great with a certain limited-time-only value meal at McDonalds.
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Olivia Rodrigo, good 4 u
Can an entire album be the Song of the Summer? Olivia Rodrigo is making a pretty good argument for the case, with her full debut album Sour blanketing the charts since its release last month. This punk-pop kiss-off is the current favourite to rule the airwaves - we still need justice for deja vu, the overlooked middle child between this and driver’s license, but that’s another story.
Silk Sonic, Leave the Door Open
Bruno Mars doesn’t miss. So in teaming with multi-hyphenate performer Anderson .Paak - this is the first offering off the duo’s upcoming debut album, An Evening with Silk Sonic - he’s created a timeless-sounding, retro-R&B love jam that is crafted with care and precision and actually sounds romantic, a quality missing from so many of today’s wham-bam odes to hooking up. Here’s to hoping the album fully carries on that vibe.
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Billie Eilish, Lost Cause
Slamming a loser boyfriend (“I know you think you’re such an outlaw,“ Eilish whisper-sings, ”but you got no job“), the 19-year-old (she turns 20 in December!) returns with her most rubbery single since Bad Guy. One potential roadblock in its path to airwaves dominance, however, is that without it’s accompanying girls-night-in video - which finds Eilish and a group of pals dancing, eating potato chips, drinking soda and generally having the best time - the song loses a bit of its punch.
Dua Lipa featuring DaBaby, Levitating
With its hand claps, nostalgic disco feels and nimble contribution from chart-topper DaBaby, Levitating is the mirror ball spinning, roller rink anthem that makes you want to glide across the hardwood and spin in circles. It’s current and a throwback all at once, the encapsulation of Dua’s current Future Nostalgia era.
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Masked Wolf, Astronaut in the Ocean
Australian rapper Masked Wolf’s recent Top 10 hit has been hanging around since 2019 but got a recent bump from TikTok, as its opening - which goes silent before Wolf’s first line and a hard-hitting beat drop - make it perfect for the video platform. It’s the rare song that peaks at the very beginning, which makes it ideal to cross-fade into mixes; you don’t need to hear the whole thing to get the full effect.
John Mayer, Last Train Home
Is it summer 2021 or summer 1988? Pop-rock survivor Mayer channels Bruce Hornsby on this synth-heavy light-rock throwback. We can’t all be late night partyers or cutting edge cool kids, and Last Train Home is the sound of enjoying the sunshine at your own leisurely pace. If uncool is the new cool, Mayer’s got the summer on lock.